And by “that,” I mean everything that happened after the Yankees scored five runs giving Hughes a lead over the Sox and Josh Beckett. (Yup, I got the power back in my house this afternoon and I’m happy about that, at least.)
It was so distressing to see Hughes hand the lead right back. But here’s who else was distressing:
Varitek.
Ellsbury.
Ortiz.
Logan.
Ayala.
Tex. (Sorry, but I’m tired of his pop-ups.)
And, of course, Beckett, who probably bores opposing hitters to death the way he takes forever to release the ball. I wouldn’t blame anybody for falling asleep waiting for him to pitch.
Here’s who was not distressing:
Jeter.
Cano.
Chavez.
Nunez.
I wish I were a bigger Phil Hughes fan. He didn’t pitch horribly. I just have no confidence when he’s on the mound. Girardi’s post-game comment – “I thought Hughes threw the ball pretty decent tonight” – didn’t inspire confidence either. “Pretty decent” isn’t good enough in a tight pennant race.
Well glad to hear that you got your power back at least. And now we may possibly have to deal with Katia not too long after Irene. Let’s hope it isn’t as bad as Irene. Now as for the game, I’m with you about Hughes, Jane. He just doesn’t inspire any confidence in me when he pitches against the Red Sox (or hell any tough offensive team in general). Is it still the dead arm? Will a whole off season of resting his arm let him come back to his first half 2010 brillinace? Who knows if that’s all he needs. He has alot of work to do to improve his command. Wow it sure would’ve been nice if we had traded for Haren last year. He would’ve been a big boost to the rotation and the only real loss for us would’ve been Joba and not a real major one as he had already been regulated as a reliever. Anyway, I’m excited about the news of Montero’s promotion with the roster expansions tomorrow. No, he will not by any means be our savior and any contributions he makes will be gravy but I always love to see young prospects get a chance.
I am not a Hughes fan either. He is VERY difficult to watch. He needs to learn that IF you get ahead of a hitter you need to finish the job, not go to 3-2 and groove the next one. He is making a point that he is a reliever not a starter. A couple of innings maybe, more than that he can’t handle.
As far as Beckett, he is an A*& H@#$.
Now on to Burnett. WTIC 1080 radio sports reporter in Hartford this morning said Red Sox batting practice begins at 7:10 tonight. Lets hope not!
no not fun. so who can you count on to pitch in the playoff? i can’t see a reason to watch tonight. i’m not into horror shows. hopefully the weekend will be more fun and at least we didn’t get swept!
Last night was the curse of the announcers. I went between radio and NESN and it seemed that whatever they said, the opposite happened. Jeb Lowrie not living up to expectations? Boom – hit and RBI. Boone Logan has not given up a run since July 23? Boom – he gives up two.
But John Sterling called one thing right – the game turned when Hughes had Reddick at 0-2 and then walked him. No excuse for that, ever. It’s not like Reddick is Ellsbury – he should have challenged him. Could have changed the outcome of the game completely.
Bleah – I don’t even want to watch tonight. I’m with Barbara – horror shows are not my thing.
Jane, I can’t believe you didn’t mention how bad Schilling was in the booth for ESPN! Maybe Beckett’s slowness zombie-d you out? :)
Even as a Sox fan, I felt it was pretty not-fair to have both Nomar Garciaparra (who is, IMHO, a very good and fair announcer – good for him!) and Schilling in the booth calling the game. There was a tangible Sox bias. And Schilling’s prattling was terrible. I respect him as a player for what he did for my team in ’04 – gritty, gutsy, determined – but otherwise I’d rather remember him that way!
I love to see the prospects get a chance too, Leo, but I was sort of surprised they picked Montero – just because they have other options at catcher and at DH. I know he’s our catcher of the future, but I was sort of hoping they’d reward Vazquez, who had been such a powerhouse and made the All-Star team in the minors and could be a big help at DH. Oh, well.
Did the radio really say that, John??? It’s pretty funny in a sad way. My issue with Hughes (in addition to those you mentioned) is how slow he pitches. I don’t mean Beckett slow in a calculated way. I mean that I just want him to rear back and throw the ball instead of nibbling. He’s better at that than last year but it still annoys me.
I’m really hoping AJ will surprise us, Barbara. And who knows? Maybe our offense will batter Lester. I know it’s unlikely but it’s baseball. As John Sterling says, “You can’t predict it.” I can’t wait to watch.
Sterling was right about that walk to Reddick, Audrey. And I was lucky. Not only did I get power, but I got YES so I was spared your announcer issues. You and Barbara have to watch tonight. We need you!
I didn’t mention Schilling or ESPN in general, Terri, because I had the YES broadcast. I was on Twitter though, and I saw all the tweets from Yankee fans complaining about Schilling and Nomar. In California I would have had to listen to them, but here in CT I’m practically in NY!
Yeah, if Hughes threw “pretty decent” then what generic descriptors would Girardi use to describe AJ? I hate to ponder that.
I’m glad you were able to get YES, Jane, I forgot that it’s up there in CT too! Nomar was fine, but Schilling was dreadful.
Generic descriptions are par for the course, Jeff. What else should managers say. “He sucks?” Besides, there was that moth that flew into Hughes’ eye. I guess we’re using that as part of the problem. What is it with Yankees pitchers and bugs?!
Me too, Terri. It’s a treat not to be stuck with the national broadcasts all the time or the opposing team’s feed. I’m enjoying it as long as it lasts (which is Labor Day).
I never really noticed the bias from the broadcast booth until the comments were made with the last Yankees-Sox series. If it wasn’t there before, it certainly was last night. Who else caught Schilling saying “we” when something had happened for the Sox? Not fair at all having both in the booth, but I do agree with you Terri that Nomar is much better. Aaron Boone is still a newbie but seems to be more objective with his commentary. I just want to forget about last night and move on–except for the fact AJ is on the mound. YIKES!
Gee, Jane, now I’m sort of sorry I missed the ESPN broadcast so I could join in this discussion. But I’ve heard Schilling in the past and I think I get the gist. The use of former players in the booth – at the expense of many a fine professional announcer – is a trend that began years ago and has been taken to the extreme. Not every athlete can or should talk!
More power to the She Fan!!!
Leo’s suggestion about Haren is a good one. But perhaps we should have sent Hughes AND Burnett in the Granderson deal and held on to IPK who is HUGE for Arizona.
I do not look forward to tonight’s game, in fact, I don’t think I will watch, partly because I have a meeting to attend at 6:00 p.m., and partly because I don’t think my nervous system can handle another Burnett outing.
Can’t wait for October when we can get by with CC, Nova, and Colon.
Hi All – I’m in Hawaii, so I missed last night and will most likely miss today (game starts at 1:00 here!). This is a no-baseball zone, which drives me crazy. I know I should enjoy Paradise, but it’s hard to let go of ‘my world.’ I hope tonight will not be a slaughter, but I’m not encouraged. I hope you’re right, Jane, that maybe AJ will surprise us! I love the ‘batting practice’ reference….pisses me off that they actually have basis for that comment! And I love an objective Red Sox fan, Terri! Being a huge Yankees fan who can admit her absolute love for Dustin Pedroia, I appreciate that. Now if that comment doesn’t banish me from this community, I don’t know what will! Aloha!
Ruth, I’ll excuse you loving Pedroia, but not feeling crazy in Hawaii. It’s my favorite place on earth and I would give up Yankee baseball to live there, which is saying a lot!
Teams can go hot and cold, so let’s see what happens, though I am not feeling much confidence in our pitching right now.
I think AJ needs this guy http://blog.prorumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Dave-Eiland.jpg
to come back and slug him in the eye.
Funny you mention IPK, yankeefansince1941. I was thinking about him while I was watching Hughes last night. When I was writing my She-Fan book, Doug Mientkiewicz said he thought Kennedy was the most poised and had the most major league potential of the Hughes-Joba-Kennedy threesome. But would he be doing this well if he were in the AL East? Hard to say. You’re not watching tonight’s game either? Come on, everybody. We have to represent!
Ruth, you have a great excuse for not watching tonight. How wonderful to be in Hawaii, no-baseball-zone or not! So you love Pedroia? Did I read that right? LOL
Do we know for sure that Eiland was the one who slugged AJ, Melissa? I always assumed things got a little volatile with them but never had confirmation when it came to that black eye.
The mystery of AJ’s black eye will remain with us forever. If it could get him to pitch well, I’d go slug him myself.
Lol, Melissa. Let’s hope he doesn’t bring out our violent sides tonight.